A TALE OF TWO ROOMS

Hi friends. Sorry I've been absent for a week or so, I've been working like crazy on our new closet office in our bedroom.  It's almost finished, but still needs a little more work.  I can't wait to show it off to you once it's done!

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On another note, my kitchen and dining room is seriously baffling me... Sure, I consider myself design savvy, but I hope I'm not the only one that can say that sometimes I design by error.... (meaning, I just keep making mistakes and changing it till it is right.) I'm sure it happens to a lot of people, but for me, sometimes I need to be cautious of what I buy and how it will look because were not the kind of people that can afford to fix every mistake.

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Anywho, you need a little history before I tell you my real dilemma.

This is my kitchen...... Which I hate.

From the cheep cupboards that should only belong in a garage, to the exorcist pea soup vinyl counter tops and floor!!  I HATE IT!!  It's probably the narrowest nonfunctional kitchen I've ever seen in my life. No romantic cooking with your husband in this kitchen!!! Unless you consider being wedged like a sandwich in between two nasty appliances from the 70's romantic.   I've done my best to make it look a little better.... Changed out the stupid plastic drawer pulls for nicer ones.... I even took the doors off the cupboards a while back to try an insinuate open shelving..... But lets be honest no one is fooling anyone hear.... This kitchen sucks!

This is my dining room........ Which I don't hate quite as much.

The table is wonky and takes up too much space... but I LOVE the chairs!  We recently ripped out a section of carpet because it was damaged.... But were planning to put wood looking laminate throughout the house hopefully within the next year.   I built my wall of shelves not to long ago.... and I LOVE them too!

The two rooms stand side by side and smack dab in the middle of our little condo by the sea.  You have to walk right in between the kitchen and the dining room to get to the other side of the house.

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Here is my little dream.....

 Rip out the horrible kitchen and extend it trough the dining room. It would wrap around the dining room and then pop out into the open area with a small island and a few stools.  We rarely ever eat at the dinner table unless we have company over.  It's mostly just a catch all for our filing papers and mail.  With a wrap around kitchen there will be more room for cooking and entertaining as well.  Maybe not for any fancy sit down dinners, but were potluck kind of people anyway.

Here is an idea of what I'm thinking.  The current kitchen is on the left.  Id leave the stove, sink and dishwasher over there, since the hookups are there.  On the right side, the fridge, a ton more counter space, my wall of shelves, and a little island with 2 or 3 bar stools.

The Grand Vision!

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The Dilemma......

The dining room is hardly functional at this point.  A design error on my part. For one, everything is so stark!  Prior to installing the shelving, the huge dandelion chandelier was a treat.  Now its just enormous and in the way. This really makes me so sad, because I really love it, but to get to my spices these days means I'm getting poked in the eye by an enormous paper flower!  Also after installing the wall of shelves, it made the room very vertical, and strait lined, so my round table is like a force against nature.  There isn't enough space to comfortably sit around it and its sticking out like a soar thumb.  *Sigh*

I love the wall shelving... so functional for us and lovely, it is for sure the keeper in this anomaly.

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What to do?....

Do I buy a new table that is rectangular to compliment the shelving on the wall?  It doesn't have to be a huge financial ordeal... Maybe even a picnic table that is old and rustic... or painted dark gray?

Or do I anticipate the dream and simply buy a small kitchen island and a few stools?

Thus leaving lots of space for the inevitable (or should I say hopeful) dream of wraping kitchen around the dining room.

What would you do?

I need some advice!!

"Beep Beep" from The Little Road!



Winter Walks On The Beach.

It is starting to get chilly up here in the Pacific Northwest.

But in all honesty, this is one of my favorite seasons here in Washington.

The fall rain stops, the skies are as clear as glass and wind is chill.

Everyone starts putting up their Christmas decorations and the Christmas ships start floating through our harbor, just outside our door.  I love it.

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Yesterday I decided to take a leisurely walk on our beach here at Casa Del Playa.

I'm always looking for treasure, and I can frequently find something interesting that has floated in from the Puget Sound.

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Here are yesterdays finds.

An old washed up wooden boat.  It would be so fun to haul this back to my apartment and put it the plant bed just on the other side of our deck.  Though it would probably raise a few complaints with the neighbors.  The downside of not having a house!  This beauty has already been betrothed to the Seattle Dead Old Wooden Boat Society.

Between some rocks I found this gorgeous array of colors. I love the bits of bright purple crab shells.

I found an island of vibrant orange seaweed.

And I brought these beauties home with me.  First closed oyster shell I've ever found.

Every time of year is a good time to go outside and find natures treasures.  Whether its chestnuts just fallen from the trees at Volunteer Park, or oysters at the bay. 

"Beep Beep" from The Little Road!



A WARM SUNNY EARLY SPRING DAY

Today was just lovely.  The first warm day we have had in months.

Sunny windy spring days = lots of sail boats at Casa Del Playa.

It reminds me why I love this little condo on the beautiful Puget Sound.

CHEERS!

RE-INVENTING A HOME

Now that my husband and I are married, we have started talking about how much longer we are going to spend in this little beach condo that we like to call "Casa Del Playa."  Let me just say this, I love my home!  This was my very first home purchase when I was 22 years old.  Casa Del Playa has housed me through college, and been my refuge for so many years now.  I have ripped her apart and put her back together, and I'm just now seeing the possible end to her remodeling in the near future.   So I figure, we will spend the next 5 years or so living here.  Maybe less, maybe more, who's to say.  I would like to keep her as long as possible, maybe even forever.  Shell make a wonderful vacation home, guest house, rental........ there are options..... right?

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Anyway, since the idea of moving out of Casa Del Playa has been a recent subject, I have started thinking.  What kind of a home do I see myself living in?  What kind of home would give me tons of creative freedom, and space to grow?  Then, just the other day while skimming some of my favorite blogs, I found this great post about a couple who renovated an old industrial building into their home.   Bells went off!  Ding Ding Ding!  Why didn't I think about this before?  For as long as I can remember I have dreamed about turning unconventional buildings into my home.   When I was a child and my parents used to drag me to church, I used to think about turning the chapel into my personal bedroom.  I would put my bed right up on the pedestal!  I ran the idea past my husband and bells went off for him too!  He told me that he used to fantasize about turning his old school into his own personal home.  Yeah!  Indoor pool!!

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Here are some inspirational pictures of industrial spaces that ether have amazing potential or have already been transformed into magical living spaces.   Pay attention to all the wonderful architectural bones these buildings have.  Just amazing!

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Enjoy!



The building above is actually an industrial warehouse in the Sodo district of Seattle.  It has been lightly refurbished and can be rented out for weddings and events.  My husband and I considered this space for our wedding.  I love the rafters and old windows.







Cheers!